OTTAWA — About 150 newcomers got lucky Wednesday after the government decided to grant them permanent residency even though their immigration applications were unceremoniously tossed thanks to the recent budget.

Immigration Minister Jason Kenney announced he was using his ministerial powers to allow them to stay because a computer glitch issued them visas by mistake.

The move comes after some of the people had already arrived in Canada, including a Moroccan family that showed up at the airport in Montreal on Friday only to learn their visas were invalid, according to a report by the French language newspaper La Presse.

“It was an administrative error on the part of my ministry,” Kenney said, noting Citizenship and Immigration is changing its IT system and in the process, some visas were issued automatically by mistake.

“We make over two million decisions a year, about 7,000 a day. We are making a major IT change so I think it’s understandable that a small error of this nature would be made.”

Kenney said the newcomers in question all qualify to immigrate to Canada as they’ve passed their security screening and have been deemed admissible. While it’s not clear how many had already arrived only to be told their visa was invalid, Kenney said anybody who did and left, is now welcome to return.

The error affected about 50 principal applicants from a dozen different countries who applied through the federal skilled worker program with their families prior to Feb. 27, 2008 and had not yet been assessed.

The group was among some 280,000 applicants and dependents who were told their paperwork was to be destroyed and their fees refunded as part of a government effort to slash a years-long program backlog.

Before this surprise turn of events, they would have had to reapply under new criteria if they still wanted to come to Canada even though many had been waiting years in the queue.

Kenney, however, dismissed the suggestion that granting permanent residency to a select few by virtue of an administrative error may be construed as unfair to the thousands who were not impacted by the glitch and remain out of luck in terms of their bid to come to Canada.

“There’s a fairness argument both ways. I think it would be fundamentally unfair to the people who have received visas, who wrapped up their affairs in their home country, acted in good faith, some apparently have come to Canada, to tell them to leave so it’s a question of the lesser of two evils in a sense,” he said.

“We have chosen to not punish people who have acted in good faith and who we told to come to Canada. I think that’s the best solution.”

NDP immigration critic Jinny Sims said she’s “pleased” the government has acknowledged that a mistake was made and that it’s redressing it, but believes the incident highlights a bigger problem.

“The real mistake is the deletion of all those files in a very unfair manner and the fast pace the minister is changing immigration policies,” she said, adding the pace of change has left little time to ensure a smooth transition, let alone adequate Parliamentary oversight.

Leading Canadian immigration lawyer Richard Kurland agreed Kenney made the right move and doubts the government will face any legal headaches from those not impacted by the glitch as the minister has the authority to grant permanent residency in exceptional circumstances.

The government also has a right to terminate visas after they’ve been issued, he said, noting it happens all the time in cases where a Canadian sponsor or principal applicant dies, for example.

Meanwhile, Kurland said there have also been glitches the other way with respect to the government’s decision to eliminate the backlog by tossing pre-2008 applications. He’s currently handling about eight cases in which applicants were issued refusal letters when in fact they were eligible for visas.

I cover justice, immigration and public safety issues as part of the Postmedia News politics team. I also keep tabs on what the official Opposition — the NDP — is up to in the House of Commons.
Before... read more coming here I spent several years in Montreal and Toronto with The Canadian Press covering provincial politics and major crime and court stories. I also helped cover the war in Afghanistan from inside and outside the wire.
I previously worked for the Ottawa Sun chasing crime stories and following convicts through the court system.
I love the unpredictability of my job and believe the opportunity to help document history as it unfolds is an awesome privilege that never ceases to give me chills.
I'm also thrilled to be back in Ottawa — my home town.
When not working, I love playing soccer, snowboarding, hitting up a live rock/blues/soul/funk show, indulging in my favourite microbrew with friends or hanging out with my three (not so little anymore) sisters!View author's profile